Rocky hands LeBron James a replica Carmelo Anthony jersey during the Nuggets’ game against the Timberwolves in 2004. (Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post)

On Friday, LeBron James will face the Nuggets for the 21st time in his career — 11th in Denver — and he comes equipped with a new pair of sidekicks and the same set of critics. The Cavaliers, with big man Kevin Love and point guard Kyrie Irving, have struggled to find their rhythm four games in, and the King has already taken heat for being too passive in the Cavs’ early going.

But the Nuggets, reeling from their second consecutive loss to the Kings, know a thing or two about early season struggles, and for two teams that many expected to be on different ends of the spectrum — and who may still end up that way — Friday’s matchup at Pepsi Center will undoubtedly be interesting.

In light of their upcoming game, we decided to dig through The Post’s archives and found this gem of LeBron in Denver on April 24, 2004.Read more…

Lithuania’s Kestutis Marciulionis, left, and Darius Songaila, right, scramble for the ball with the United States’ Antonio McDyess during their game at the Dome during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney on Sept. 21, 2000. (Michael Conroy, AP file)

With Kenneth Faried being named to Team USA for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, he becomes the fifth Nuggets player to don the red, white and blue since 1992 when USA Basketball began using active NBA players for the national team roster.

Here’s a look at the others:

Antonio McDyess2000 Olympics

After averaging 19.1 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Nuggets, McDyess was a late addition to the national team after Tim Duncan withdrew because of an injury.

The 6-foot-9 power forward played in all eight games, averaging 7.6 points and 5.9 rebounds as Team USA took home the gold.

Fresh off of his rookie season with the Nuggets, Anthony was selected to the 2004 Olympic national team along with fellow 2003 NBA draftees LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. The squad struggled, finishing with a 3-2 record in group play and stumbling to a bronze medal — the worst finish in U.S. history. Anthony played little, averaging just 2.4 points.

Carmelo Anthony announced that he will re-sign with the Knicks. (Al Bello, Getty Images)

On Sunday, in a message posted to his website, Carmelo Anthony announced that he would remain a Knick, confirming earlier reports:

A few years ago I dreamed of coming back to New York City, the place of my birth, and on February 23, 2011 that became a reality. This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team. At this pivotal juncture in my career, I owed it to myself and my family to explore all of the options available to me. Through it all, my heart never wavered.

In a short amount of time, Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri has proven to be as persuasive with players as he has been shrewd with other general managers. In the face of many who believe the Nuggets are doomed in getting top talent to stay in town when they hit free agent status, he’s been able to keep it here.

Still, there is a roll-the-dice quotient to the acquisition of Andre Iguodala that is squirm-worthy for anyone banking on the hyper-athletic small forward being in a Nuggets uniform for years to come.

Carmelo Anthony remains the Nuggets' best NBA draft pick after he fell to No. 3 in 2003 for then-GM Kiki Vandeweghe.

The Nuggets have a weird relationship with the NBA draft. In the seven years between 2004-10, Denver drafted and kept only one player: Julius Hodge. That’s one player in seven years Denver got from the draft. Sorta. It doesn’t tell the full story. Here are those years:

So on draft night, the Nuggets over those years netted Ty Lawson, Sonny Weems, Julius Hodge and Linas Kleiza. And, of course, a year earlier in 2003 Denver got a franchise player and a year later in 2011 they got a young keeper (see below for both).

With all due respect to tinkering with offensive schemes, it was the defensive end of the court that doomed the Nuggets in the playoffs last season. And with Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler – two top-flight defensive players – not on the roster, conventional wisdom says the Nuggets haven’t gotten better in that department. They’ll need to find cohesion and toughness on that side of the court quickly, which shouldn’t be too difficult given the solid foundation the team laid for itself from the end of last year’s regular season.

Arron Afflalo’s return helps, and Ty Lawson’s quick hands will continue to be a boost in the steals department. Rudy Fernandez has proven in the past he can be a very good defender. Corey Brewer is one of the better defenders in the league, so the perimeter is in good hands.

Interior defense, however, might take some time. Nene is a good on-ball defender and Chris Andersen is expected to get back to his block-happy alter ego, the Birdman. Center Timofey Mozgov isn’t afraid to challenge shots at the rim, but will he be given a chance to play enough minutes to develop and contribute?

By extension, rebounding will be at a premium. Any good defensive possession ends with the rebound after the first missed shot, and the Nuggets were decent in not allowing a ton of offensive boards to opponents last season (10.7, 14th in the NBA). The addition of board-hunter Kenneth Faried helps immensely on the glass, and more is expected from Nene and Andersen. The Nuggets fared well on the boards last year and need a repeat performance to compliment their defense.

2. Can they shoot free throws?

The Nuggets fell apart at the free throw line after the Carmelo Anthony trade in the regular season (71.7 percent from 78.5 percent) and during the playoffs in a first round loss to Oklahoma City (70.7). And nothing was particularly encouraging about the 24-of-38 (63 percent) performance in the first preseason game against Phoenix on Tuesday night.

The sudden inability of this team to hit a high percentage from the charity stripe last year was a surprise to everyone involved given the fact those players are actually good free throw shooters. It needs to be solved, and maybe a bit of confidence is all that’s required. Whatever it is, this of particular importance to coach George Karl’s team, which annually is at, or among, the top in the league in free throw attempts.

3. Will they find a 20-point per night scorer?

The buzzword for this is ‘star.’ It might be better stated this way: Is there a player that can give the team 22-25 points every night out? Ultimately, that’s what the Nuggets need to not just be a good regular season team – which they almost always have been under Karl – but a legitimate threat in the playoffs as well.

The Nuggets do not have a player on the roster that averaged more than 15.6 points per game last season. And while it’s nice to have eight players average between 11 and 16 points per game, as the Nuggets did last season, that formula almost always gets you beat in the playoffs.

Danilo Gallinari was Mr. 15.6 (14.7 ppg after arriving in Denver via trade) and he’ll be given the first shot to be that lead player. Karl and other Nuggets brass flew to Italy to meet with the forward in the spring, prior to the lockout. It wasn’t to hang out. They wanted to clearly define their future plans for Gallo, complete with a workout regimen and let him know he’s the player they expect to rise up and take control on a nightly basis. Gallinari has all the skills, but does he have the alpha dog mentality to assume the role?

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

This flew under the radar a bit in town, but the latest round of NBA cancellations means one thing for Nuggets fans looking to get a chance to personally voice their opinions to Carmelo Anthony this season:

They won’t get that chance.

Anthony and the New York Knicks were scheduled to visit Denver on Nov. 16. It would have been the first time he returned to Denver after being traded from the team in February, and there were a good number of fans that wanted an opportunity to “greet” him that night.

But when NBA commissioner David Stern canceled games through Nov. 30 late last week, it wiped out Melo’s return to the Mile High City.

There was some hope that the NBA would play all 82 games anyway, but Stern made clear the league will not be able to play a full season, telling reporters “It’s not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now. There will not be full NBA season under any circumstances.” So any hope of retaining that game is on life support at best.

Depending on how the NBA sets up next season’s schedule, Anthony might not come back to Denver until 2013. And by then, time may have dulled the sharp edges of a fan base that felt it was wronged in the Melodrama that led to him heading out of town.

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Carmelo Anthony will come back to Denver, but he might not actually make that return trip for two seasons.

The NBA schedule, released today – has Anthony and the New York Knicks traveling to Denver on Nov. 16. It would be Anthony’s first trip back to the Mile High City since being traded five months ago.

It’s a date Nuggets fans no doubt will circle with red ink and pack the Pepsi Center to make their feelings about Anthony known directly to him about how he left the Nuggets last season. But if a lockout becomes as prolonged as most think it will be, that will be a date in serious jeopardy of not becoming a reality while players and owners duke it out over the components of a new collective bargaining agreement.

Anthony infamously left the Nuggets last season via trade to the Knicks after strong-arming the organization behind the scenes to move him or lose him at the end of the year. After months of exhaustive trade negotiations with numerous teams, the Nuggets finally struck a deal with the Knicks on Feb. 21, a three-team deal with Minnesota that involved 12 players in total moving zip codes.

The process was a drawn-out affair that frayed the nerves of fans and players whose names were involved in rumors alike. Many Nuggets fans were furious with Anthony, who was drafted by the Nuggets in 2003 and had played his entire career in the power blue.

Anthony’s desire to go back home to New York became his main focus as he refused to sign a Nuggets contract extension offer as leverage to get back to the Big Apple.

Back in September, before this wackiest of NBA seasons even began, word came out that Chicago wouldn’t include Joakim Noah in a trade for Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony.

At the time, some around basketball wondered why the Bulls wouldn’t trade Noah, Luol Deng, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant to acquire the all-star Melo. But the Bulls knew what they had – Derrick Rose was their Melo, in the sense that he was their No. 1 scoring option superstar who can take over a game. To win in the East, Chicago felt it needed the low-post force of Noah, complemented by newly acquired free agent Carlos Boozer.

And, of course, Chicago didn’t make the trade and is now up 1-0 against mighty Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.

The NBA released its All-NBA teams today. There were no Nuggets, which isn’t a shock, though Nuggets center Nene did receive votes. But there were no former Nuggets as well, which might put a smile on many Nuggets’ fans faces.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) gets a shot off against Boston's Paul Pierce on Tuesday in Game 2.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Last night, Carmelo Anthony played so well that TNT’s Charles Barkley said it was one of the greatest playoff performances. Ever.

With Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups not playing due to injury, the Knicks’ Anthony scored 42 points (10-for-11 from the line) with 17 rebounds (five offensive) and six assists (yes, Melo had six assists in a basketball game). The Knicks lost, though, and are now down 0-2 to Boston.

Nuggets coach George Karl said he was watching from an Oklahoma City restaurant.

“He was fantastic — it’s what he can do,” Karl said of his old superstar.

PORTLAND — OK, here’s what happened. Melo leaves Denver and, in interviews with the Denver media and on TNT, coach Karl points out that maybe, just maybe, Melo wasn’t the greatest defender ever.

Melo hears it during the TNT broadcast on Thursday night and, as seen here, writes some angry tweets – and also brought it up at shootaround today.

Before tonight’s game at Portland, I asked George about the TNT interview that seemed to frustrate his former superstar.

Said Karl: “I’m responsible for it, but the thing is – if you ran the whole interview, 75-80 percent of it was positive reinforcement on what a great seven years we had with Melo and what a great player he was – the best offensive player I’ve ever coached. In seven years, there’s no way that you’re going to have every day be happy. When you lose, he’s mad at something and I’m mad at something. I’m just sorry about the way it came out. I have tremendous respect for the guy. I think he’s going to be a Hall of Fame player. I’m kind of angry and frustrated with all the things that went on, but at the same time, I respect what he did.”

Carmelo Anthony hadn't yet played a game in the NBA when he went fishing in Meeker with guide Rich Krause, shown, and Denver Post outdoors editor Charlie Meyers. (Charlie Meyers, Denver Post archives)

From the archives comes this article, featured on The Denver Post outdoors page on Oct. 5, 2003. Written shortly after Carmelo Anthony arrived in Denver for the first time since he was taken No. 3 overall in the NBA Draft. He was a 19-year-old rookie then, who hadn’t yet played a minute in the NBA.

He agreed to go fishing with legendary Post outdoors writer Charlie Meyers, in the hopes of filming a fishing show for ESPN. They flew to Meeker for two days.

During the first half of the TNT broadcast, Karl reiterated statements he had made to the media earlier in the week, saying of Melo: “Defensive focus, his demand of himself, is what frustrated us more than anything.”

Very shortly after that, Anthony tweeted: “are u serious. Some people never (cease) to amaze me. Unbelievable.” Then Melo followed that with “WHEN THE GRASS IS CUT THE SNAKES WILL SHOW.” (Anthony did not return a text when asked about the tweets.)

“That’s him. That’s George Karl so I don’t really try to pay too much attention to that. I know what I’ve done there in the 7 1/2 years I’ve been there; going to the Western Conference Finals. Last year, we were top five in a lot of categories.

“All that stuff, I don’t know where it’s coming from. I try not to pay too much attention to it.”

Leon Rose, the agent from Creative Artists Agency who represents Carmelo Anthony, spent countless hours on the phone with Nuggets executives during the trade process.

On Thursday, I caught up with Rose on the phone. He was appreciative of the Denver front office executives, who were put in the unenviable situation of having to trade their best player – because their best player wanted to go to New York.

“On a personal note, I feel fortunate to have worked with them, and I think that if it was with others, I don’t know if this would have gotten done,” said Rose, who helped get his client to the Knicks.

Not only did the Carmelo Anthony trade kick-start the rest of the NBA’s trading activity, there turned out to be a downright avalanche of deals – one of the busiest trade deadline days in recent years.

The Northwest Division was arguably the most active of any in the league on this, deadline day in the NBA. And what Denver, Utah, Portland and Oklahoma City did in the last four days not only drastically changed the look of all of those teams, but completely changed the landscape of what this division will be as opposed to predictions on what it would have been.

We’re going to look at the winners and losers.

The Nuggets can be on the winner’s list of deadline deals for fighting through a difficult situation and trading their star for solid players and draft picks. But the division is clearly now a two-team race. Oklahoma City and Portland did wonders to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, and in the Thunder’s case, that team is now ready to seriously compete with San Antonio and Los Angeles as a serious NBA Finals contender.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times.